Finding A New Path
by Siobhan Recca
Summary: In an alternate universe where the senshi don't exist, Misao Kagami grows up in a family led by her tyrannical grandfather who accepts nothing less than perfection. So when a malicious rumor gets her cast out, Michiru Kaioh is born from Misao's ashes.
1. Oceanic Breezes

Finding A New Path  
A Sailormoon Fanfiction  
By Siobhan L.R. Ward  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon and company are owned by Naoko Takaushi and Toei/Bandai. I neither   
possess nor claim any rights toward the ownership of these characters.  
  
Warning: Finding A New Path is a H/M match-up with a possible A/Ma match-up included. Thus,   
it is yuri and if that bothers you or strikes you as someway unnatural or unethical or   
some such nonsense, I suggest you take your high-minded self elsewhere. I will neither   
claim nor accept any responsibility for any mental, emotional, or moral distress you may   
inflict upon yourself if you suffer from homophobia and continue to read. Thank you for   
your time.  
  
The Extremely Brief Prologue  
  
Misao Kagami was brought up to be a very proper young lady under the strict eyes of   
her grandfather. Her parents were far more tolerant and visibly caring than the strict old   
man who would accept no less than perfection, but they resided under the roof he placed   
over their heads and subsided to the perfectionist about their daughter. Thus, when a rumor   
that Misao was 'easy' was spread about her school and reached her grandfather's ears, to   
say that he was less than pleased was by far an understatement. The fact that a malicious   
girl that was jealous of Misao had started the rumor fell upon deaf ears, for once the old   
man had taken it into his head to believe something, no one could prove him in error.   
  
Thus, the old patriarch ordered Misao cast out from the Kagami family. Misao's   
parents did not wish to see their daughter flung out into the cold with no assets, so they   
worked as quickly as they could to provide their daughter with enough money to survive for   
a while and sneak her out of the house before the Grandfather could come and cast her out   
himself. With her, she took her precious violin, her art case, some few changes of clothes   
in a battered suitcase, enough money to survive for two or three months on her own and a   
new identity as Michiru Kaioh, and she slipped from the Kagami family into a dingy train   
car headed into Tokyo.  
  
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Chapter One: An Oceanic Breeze  
  
Michiru looked up with some apprehension at the dilapidated looking apartment   
building that stood in front of her, before glancing back down at the oft folded newspaper   
clutched in her hand. The building had certainly seen better days, and better upkeep as   
well. Dirt encrusted the rough brick that made up the walls, loose papers and other trash   
had blown up against the building, and lodged into the lees of the two doorways she could   
see and a few of the lower window encasements were piles of leaves that had fallen the two   
months previous. The door before her was covered in grime, with a shackled portcullis style   
grate guarding the entrance as well.  
  
She sighed heavily, fully aware of how far she had fallen by the whim of a foolish   
child, but she knew that she had little choice of where to live if she wanted to survive in   
the Juuban district. She could only hope now that person who lived in apartment 407   
wouldn't be as horribly distasteful as the building itself and be willing to accept her as   
the answer to the roommate request. So, with a shuddering breath of apprehension as she   
tried to bolster her faltering courage, she reached up and carefully pressed the button,   
which may once have actually been white, under the number 407. The buzzer sounded faintly   
and in the ensuing silence, she watched with a stunned fascination as the brads holding up   
the top of the seven in the 407 finally gave up the ghost and released it weight to swing   
ponderously down over the button.   
  
A slightly husky voice sounded from the rusty and holed grill above the sets of   
buttons and numbers. "Yes?" It sounded slightly querulous, not unlike some one just awoken   
despite the fairly late hour, and did little to raise Michiru's hopes.  
  
However, she bravely depressed the cracked, pinkish speaker button and tried to   
speak clearly over the crackling noise. "M-my name is Misa... I mean, Michiru. Michiru   
Kaioh. I'm here about the advertisement you placed in the paper." Her finger dashed from   
the broken surface of the button as if it burned.  
  
"Advertisement?" She could almost picture the owner scratching his head with the   
bemused sort of confusion that echoed in the voice. "Oh yeah. That ad. So, you're here to  
be my roommate, huh? Just a moment, I'll be right down to let you in."  
  
And silence grew again in the fertile soil of Michiru's troubled self. It's long   
life was not to last though, for hardly a minute had past before the door's harsh croak and   
the clattering scream of the portcullis broke into her reverie and caused her to spin   
startledly to face the doorway. What she saw there didn't help bring voice to any thoughts  
though, not that many were passing through that pretty little head of hers at the time.  
  
For before her was not the rough-shod knave that she was more than half-expecting   
to come clattering down the stairs she spotted behind him. This young Adonis was as far   
from what she expected as the stars were from the sea. Tousled short-cropped golden hair   
being casually raked with long, slender fingers. Pale, yet brilliantly bright, blue eyes,   
nearly gray, gazed sleepily out from under a clear, unlined brow. A narrow, slightly   
aquiline nose wrinkled slightly as the light and a bit of the smell from outside hit home.   
Full pink lips, lightly tinged rouge on the side with the rough imprint that drifted down   
from high cheekbones on the left side of the face, enhancing the image of having been   
asleep. The chin was strong and the neck surprisingly slender, cascading down into broad   
shoulders and an obvious runner's body, that was covered in a loose collared white shirt,   
that looked suspiciously like silk, and a pair of fawn colored slacks.   
  
"Sorry." The vision spoke, husky voice rumbling through Michiru's head like the   
cresting of a storm-tossed wave. "I'm afraid you caught me napping." A smile crossed his   
beautiful lips. "Terribly rude of me, I know. I'm Haruka, by the way. Haruka Tenoh. And   
you must be Michiru." He reached for her extended hand and, instead of shaking it, leaned   
down slightly to graze soft lips upon the back of her raised hand, those gorgeous blue eyes  
of his never leaving hers as he did so. "Charmed, I'm sure."  
  
Michiru was in shock. To find such a vision of beauty in such a decrepit place   
would have shocked anyone. But one of such gentlemanly refinedness... such a thing was   
positively awe inspiring.   
  
"Well, since you've obviously come because of the ad, you probably want to take a   
look around. Come on in." Haruka offered with a smile, stepping to the side to allow   
Michiru entrance into the building.  
  
  
Michiru stepped into the surprisingly clean foyer beyond Haruka with something of   
trepidation colouring her steps. After all, she was placing herself and her safety into   
the hands of a stranger. An unusually handsome, charming, and gentlemanly stranger, but a   
stranger nonetheless. Yet, she had been the one to come to the building in response to the  
advertisement, and she _did_ need a place to live, so she gathered her courage, and   
entered.   
  
"There some slippers over there that you can use." Haruka stated, gesturing towards   
a set of cubby-holes to the side of the door as he leaned against the frame. "Just leave   
your shoes down here. No one will bother them."  
  
Michiru wasn't entirely certain how to react to the apparently random moves that   
Haruka was making. However, Haruka's move to grasp a silver headed cane leaning against   
the door frame, and the attractive individual's obvious dependency on its support as she   
stepped towards the stairway, did strike Michiru as unusual. A slight, and entirely petty   
she realized moments later, smile touched her lips as she watched Haruka's awkward ascent   
up the oaken stairs. Adonis wasn't perfect after all. In its own way, that relieved her   
immensely, and she felt a surge of shame burn through her cheeks as she acknowledged that   
within herself. Thus, if her steps upon the beginning of the stairs faltered a bit, or   
weren't quite as quick as Haruka's, it was understandable.   
  
Yet, the teal-haired beauty was startled from her thoughts by a most unmanly squawk   
coming from above, and her head snapped up from her musing reflection of the treads to see   
the tip of Haruka's cane slip on the rounded edge of a step. Her fellow stair-climber   
teetered a bit, torso torquing around twisting his body off kilter, arms waving as he   
grasped vainly at the banister behind him, before loosing his feet's tenuous grasp on   
the well-worn treads and slipping backwards through the air towards a shocked Michiru   
on the first two steps, her foot hovering slightly above the third step, one hand lightly   
laying upon the railing, lips slightly parted in a disbelieving 'o'. 


	2. Testing The Depths

Chapter Two: Testing The Depths  
  
Michiru closed her eyes tightly in a fruitless gesture to ward off the feeling of   
impact from the taller and slightly huskier falling form of Haruka, but braced as best she   
could for it nonetheless. Mere moments later though, instead of the slamming impact she   
was expecting, she experienced the startling feel of a pair of slender, yet muscular, and   
warm arms wrap about her and draw her close to a somewhat unusually soft chest for a man   
before the almost nauseating tumbling feeling of falling. There was an impact, to be sure,   
but it was in a more horizontal position, was surprisingly soft, and was heralded by a   
muted grunt from beneath her.  
  
Wait a second, from *beneath* her?  
  
Michiru's eyes shot open to reveal that she was laying on top of Haruka, that   
note-worthy's arms resting loosely around Michiru's waist and those amazing grey-blue   
eyes were peering anxiously up at the girl, with her arms braced across his chest, in   
his arms. Not even a full second had passed before Haruka's silver headed cane finished   
its noisy clatter down the stairs and landed with a muffled thump beside them. For a   
moment, neither of them spoke, and Michiru found herself somewhat thrilled by the unusual   
feelings of warmth and safety that were flowing though her from being in Haruka's arms.  
  
Then Haruka's eyes narrowed slightly, Michiru's close position allowing her to see  
the minute crinkles form in the flesh at the corner of those eyes as the one holding her   
allowed a sheepish and lop-sided grin to form on his slightly blushing face, revealing the   
brief dimples on his cheeks when he did.   
  
"And *that* would be the reason that there's really thick shag carpet on the floor   
beneath the staircases around here." Haruka finally uttered with all the pomp and sincerity   
of a tour guide, then broke down into a sort of rueful chuckle. "Seriously though, I guess   
that I should save the guide by the stairs until I can get around on this screwed up knee   
a bit better."  
  
So saying, he released Michiru with one arm, grabbed his cane from nearby, and   
tapped carefully against his right knee, causing a hollow plastic-like sound.   
  
"Until then," Haruka offered, finally releasing Michiru entirely (a fact that she   
was finding herself oddly regretful of) and pushing himself to a sitting position. "perhaps   
we should resign ourselves to the use of the elevator." And he gestured towards a   
oak-paneled section of the wall with the silver head of his cane, which made Michiru   
look a bit closer and notice the inconspicuous silver panel on the side with the simple   
ivory buttons.   
  
With a brief chuckle at the mis-adventure, the unlikely duo summoned the silver   
chariot to carry them to heretofore unheard of heights, particularly with Haruka's noted   
skill at the art of stair-climbing.  
  
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Haruka relaxed back against the wood lined interior wall of the elevator with a   
faint sigh escaping those full lips as he relieved the pressure from his bad knee, a   
brief smile flitting across his features under blissfully closed eyes.   
  
"Ah." He breathed, the husky contralto that was so rapidly becoming a favored   
sound for Michiru sending chills down the aqua-tressed lass's spine. "It's good to be   
able to relax." His startlingly grayish-blue eyes were slowly revealed as he brought   
thickly lashed lids to half-mast and allowed a rakish grin to grace his face. "I bet   
you're curious."  
  
Michiru knew that she must have looked astonished, just by the ever so slight   
widening of Haruka's grin, and a rich blush promptly added itself to her fair cheeks at   
the notice. Her eyes cast downwards to the floor of the elevator (in search of the   
source of the faint hint of cedar in the air if Haruka asked) when Haruka's hearty   
chuckle colored the atmosphere.  
  
"I knew it!" Haruka crowed, grin broadening. "This is quite an interesting place,   
don't you think? Quite the complete contradiction in appearances, isn't it?"  
  
Michiru knew what Haruka meant. After all, the outside of the building was about   
as decrepit as you could get without it being condemned out of hand, but once you stepped  
inside... it was like something out of a fairytale, the change was so painfully obvious.   
For inside, there was deep, plush carpeting, fine oak paneling, a marvelous carven   
staircase, this elevator... Everything glowed with the vivid colors of the freshly   
polished. Just like the things at her grandfather's home. It was a wondrous   
difference, though it did bring with it a brief pang of homesickness.  
  
Michiru had to admit. She wanted to know why it was like this.  
  
Haruka grinned. A captive audience!   
  
"It's my fault, really. No one expects someone like me to live in a run down   
dump, so they generally don't bother me here." One shoulder raised ever so slightly in  
a shrug. "Not that I blame them. This isn't the best part of town, I admit."  
  
"Who would bother you?" Michiru was quite confused.  
  
Haruka couldn't help the warmth that seeped into his smile. Here was someone   
who must be out of the loop not to know about him, but maybe... just maybe... a friend?   
  
"I'm Haruka Tenoh, Ms. Kaioh. I might not be the oldest person in the profession,   
but I'm a pretty good race car driver, or at least I like to think so." Michiru looked   
interested, so Haruka took it as a sign to elaborate. "I've been coming out in the top  
five the last couple of seasons on the amateur circuit, so my pit boss made a suggestion   
that I played out. I made the switch to the pro circuit. I'm no where near the top yet,   
but in time..."   
  
Michiru couldn't help the smile that spread on her lips at the unthinking   
confidence in Haruka's voice.   
  
"I'm still in school, so I can't run as often as I like, and unfortunately,  
it's been showing lately." Haruka finished with a rueful grimace, tapping his leg   
with his cane to emphasize his point. "The pros are a lot less forgiving then the   
amateur racers."   
  
The smile on Haruka's face darkened a bit, becoming more shadowed. "Between   
my knee and what's left of my car, I'm officially out for the season, and maybe next   
as well. But, that's never stopped the newsies from hounding me. So, I'm hiding out.   
Here."  
  
The doors opened, not into the hallway she was expecting, but into a great   
open expanse, just as Haruka finished speaking. Michiru couldn't help but gape a   
bit and the polished hardwood flooring, the great bay windows yawning wide across   
the far wall, letting the sunlight gleam into the room, glinting and refracting off   
of the glistening floor. The walls were painted a brilliant white, unblemished with   
dingy smearing or cluttered with hangings. A pair of tall bookshelves braced the   
great window, lustrous mahogany seeming to glow from within, bearing the substantial   
ranks and files of books ordered neatly on the echelon of shelving with nary a groan.   
All other furniture was limited to a simple, ivory leather and steel futon-like sofa,   
a flat-screen set seemingly embedded into the wall, a unpretentious rug of the oriental   
style, and a low set black metal and glass coffee table.   
  
Simple. Uncomplicated. Even elegant came to mind when looking at the scene   
that spread out before her startled blue eyes. But it didn't seem to match Haruka's   
easy confidence and casual attitude for some reason. She didn't know why, but the   
strange feeling of off-ness gnawed at the back of her mind.  
  
Haruka still leaned on the wall of the elevator, watching with calm, yet   
fascinated interest at Michiru's inspection of his home. Then he pushed himself off   
the back wall, once again depending upon his silver ferruled cane to aid in his support,  
and stepped forwards to Michiru's side.  
  
"Hope you don't mind the look." Haruka stated with a mild grimace. "It wasn't   
much my idea. My money, yes, but not my idea."  
  
Michiru looked askance at the partially crippled person beside her at that   
statement. Haruka noted and grinned.  
  
"Makoto Kino, interior decorating." Haruka finally offered as way of   
explanation, though at Michiru's increasingly puzzled expression, he chuckled and   
elaborated. "My old roommate. In fact, she still lives at my 'home' and, by way of   
being such a great friend, provides wild goose chases for the newsies to keep them   
off my back. Great cook, no denying, but as far as decorating... well, let's just say   
our tastes differ."  
  
Michiru joined in the laughter at that, and allowed Haruka to escort her the  
rest of the way into his home.  
  
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End file.
